answers

heaven
will not answer
the correctness
of the calvinist
or
the arminian...

heaven
will not declare
whether or not
unknown trongues
can be spoken...

heaven
will settle
no doctrinal disputes
once
and for all...

heaven
will be about
the Lamb
slain
forever ago
& His regard for
us.

loving God's ways #2 (matthew 4:8-10)

anger
&
hatred are bad
companions
to clear thinking.
the evil one has been angry
for a long time.

that day
in the desert, his anger
burned
hot.

You saw through each
deception
&
hung onto Your Abba's every
word.

he was outclassed
&
he knew it.

"fall down," he demanded,
"worship me...and all power will be
Yours!"

"get out, satan!"
"YaHWeH alone is to be worshiped."

the tempter left.
defeated.

loving YaHWeH
above all else
is the only defense that
will kill each
&
every plan of the devil.

love worships.
love wins.

there ought be a law

there oughta be
a law
against working
so hard
to impress everyone...
including You, Lord.

there oughta be
a law
against taking ourselves
so seriously...

but
i think this law is
already
on Your books...

"love one another,"
You said.

You went on,
"love one another
even as
I have loved you,"

"if you love Me,you will keep
My
commandments."

these words have hung in the
air
for 2,000 years.

still strong.

Jesus-ideas #1 (John 1:14)

we all like the
idea
of You,
Jesus…
maybe more than WHO
You were…and WHO
You are.

to relate to You
as Lord…
and
as brother
is much more difficult
than simply
thinking
about You.

YaHWeH's Job #5 (Psalm 50:21)

what is it,
Lord,
that You do in Your
day job?

do You laugh at us?
or
with us?

play games with us?
weep for us?
grieve over us?
enjoy us?
much at all?

are You concerned
for us?

do You even notice us
except in
anger?

the evidence is in...

Jesus,
You are ALL the evidence there
is.

You came to us with
YaHWeH's full-force-love
inside You...
spilling out of
You
all over us...and
it didn't matter to You
who drank of it...

Jew...
Gentile...
believer...
pagan...
poor...
rich...
strong...
weak...
You loved all & each
of us
regardless of our
packaging.

YaHWeH's Job #4 (Psalm 50:21)

what
is Your job,
Lord?

i mean...after
You created the cosmos...
what have You
been up to?

what
are You up to?

is all this
just a grab for
a bunch of thank you notes
from us finite folk?
are You looking
to have choirs & bands
telling everyone how
cool You are?

from time to time
it feels that way...
and
i know we act that way
giving praise out of
duty &
fear of bad
consequences
if we hold
back.

do we think
we can out-sing
the stars?

do we think
we can out-shout
the oceans?

do we think
we can out-paint
the sky's breath
at day's end?

You get so much
advice from us...
about everything,
Lord.

please love us anyway & forgive...

am i getting warm,
Lord?

scars #4 (John 20:27)

why?

why, Lord?

why did You
let us get
to You?

you didn't have to...
i imagine that things
were probably going rather
well in heaven
without us,
Lord.

but...You noticed
us.
you took pity on us...
showing up
so much like us
that Your scars looked
just like ours.

except deeper...
each inscribed by love for
us...
none of them
a result of just looking
the wrong way...at
the wrong time.

love, grace & truth...
all & each
NEVER occur
here
accidentally...they
ALWAYS come from
a choice.

so i guess that means
You chose
freely
each one of Your scars...
didn't You,
Lord?

Near #2

in You, Lord,
The One-Broken-For-Us...
YaHweH himself came near
at the cross-moment of history
by
accepting Your act of
obedience
as the Sin-Breaker
clearing the path to
His mercy
once & for
all time...
all people...

even though YaHWeH withheld
His help to You,
choosing to help us instead...
still
You obeyed Him thru death...
You refused to listen to
the damning crowd...
You remembered Your Abba's
Voice saying,
"This is My Well-loved Son!"
"He pleases Me!"

and listening
to Him,
You blazed the path
to life
to love
to wholeness
for every one of us!

Near

You were near,
Lord,
coming to us as
Emmanuel on two legs
walking through our
hearts…
sometimes quietly and
other times in thunder
but
always carefully
with an eye & a strong heart
to save us
from ourselves.

You were never nearer
to us
than when You laid Yourself
down
on the rough wood to
bleed out the way
for us…and
no one seemed near You
with any help
when You most needed it.

You are
The One-broken-for-us…
only a mother can understand
how near that is...
how near You are.

God of Jacob 3 (Psalm 46:11)

Lord,
did the psalmist see You
as the Only One
Whose grace & mercy
could not be
outrun...
unless a person
runs all the way into
Hell?

You, Lord, are our
fortress...
the only safe place
in all the cosmos.

God of Jacob 2 (Psalm 46)

Lord,
did the psalmist use this
shorter Name of Yours
to remind himself
that You are the God Who
seeks out
even the liars & cheats?

did he see You as the
God Who wrestles with us
when all our plans
have come to an unpleasant
end?

Who then lets us
beat Him...just so
He can bless us?

God of Jacob (Psalm 46)

Lord,
You fought jacob
so he would come
to the end of
himself.

then at self's end
he found You to be
a merciful God
Who would keep His
promises
to a liar...His
covenant
with a cheat.

this is love

Lord,
Your best friend (John)
said,
"this is love...
not that WE loved Him...
but that He loved us...
and gave His Son...
for us."

is love ever
anything less
than giving away what
we most prize?

is what we call
love
nothing less than a reflection of
You, Lord?

Your friend, john, seemed to think so...

has there ever been a person
anywhere
who has ever loved
anyone
with a love all their own?

Precious

Lord,
why is it that those You say
You love the most...
have
the biggest jobs?
pay
the biggest price?
endure
the most pain?

but then,
Your Own Abba called You:
"My well-loved Son"
just before He asked You to
willingly pick up all
our debts
and pay them for us.

does He indeed love us
so much?

The Killer App

love is the "killer app"...
or at least so says
Yahoo's Chief Solutions Officer.

Lord,
long before Yahoo had an
identity,
You knew this to be
literally true...

is that why
You did what You did?

Better

God,
i wonder why does it
seem
that everyday You treat me
better
than You treated
Your Son
on His very best
day?